


#fictober18 - Twenty-four - "You know this, you know this to be true."

by khurst



Series: #fictober18 [24]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Episode: s05e01 Night, F/M, when you're so wrecked you can't see you're hurting the people around you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 02:10:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16399409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khurst/pseuds/khurst
Summary: Episode s05e01: Night - Chakotay and Janeway have yet another heart to heart





	#fictober18 - Twenty-four - "You know this, you know this to be true."

**Author's Note:**

> as usual unabashedly unbeta'd

“I read Tuvok’s report. There was no other decision to be made.”

“There’s always an alternative.”

“But not a better one. You made the only correct choice.”

“We could have planted bombs. Used the array to get home.”

“We had no time to familiarize ourselves with his technology. By the time we’d have it figured out the Kazon would have long taken over the station.” It was the same argument day in and day out. “We were asked for help by a superior species. Ignoring that plea would have meant tipping the balance of power not only in this sector but possibly throughout the galaxy.”

“I broke the Prime Directive, Chakotay,” she hollered, “and this whole crew is paying for that. The people we lost…”

“You did not break the Prime Directive, Kathryn. You did not get us stranded. The Caretaker did. The Caretaker asked for our help, not the Ocampa. You helped a technologically advanced being in making sure their technology doesn’t fall into the hands of those who would abuse it. In time the Kazon would have figured out how to use the array and what would have happened then?”

She turned and ignored him. She knew the answer, of course. Not only because he told her every night, but because she must know the answer.

“They would have pulled ships from all over the galaxy. They would have abused the technology for their own power-hungry interests and they would have known no limit.”

“But  _**I** _ made the choice, Chakotay.  _**I** _ forced you all to spend the rest of your lives finding a way back home.” She turned around and the fierceness in her eyes did not surprise him. In the end, it always came around to this. Her choice. Her guilt. And her belief that she robbed all of them of a happier life.

“Not a single person who deserves my respect would have made a different choice in your position.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and made sure she looked at him, his eyes steady on her. “We all want to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, but make no mistake Kathryn,  **_this_ ** is our home. You know this, you know this to be true.”

She moved out of his grasp then, turned away from him and didn’t grace him with a reply. And like every night he wondered if she felt so different. If she would really take it all back given the chance. Because he was damned sure he would not.

Like every night, he resigned. Like every night, he had to accept that he did not get through to her. Like every night, he turned to leave her alone with her. But tonight, the pain she caused him with her easy dismissal of everything they had achieved, the close community they had built, and the relationships they had forged made him turn back to her.

“Take a good hard look at our crew, Kathryn,” his voice was laced with anger and grief, “and dare tell me otherwise.”

  
  



End file.
